


Nocturnia

by Felidae5



Series: Seven times Seven RR [2]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: AU, M/M, Round Robin, Seven Times Seven
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:42:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25579774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Felidae5/pseuds/Felidae5
Summary: Part 20/36; my second contribution to the infamousSeven Times SevenRound Robin. A huuuuge thank you to SerenaJones who informed me that SnowIce had saved the entirety of the RR.
Relationships: Jounouchi Katsuya | Joey Wheeler/Kaiba Seto
Series: Seven times Seven RR [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1853905
Comments: 4
Kudos: 3





	Nocturnia

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jennie B.](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Jennie+B.), [SerenaJones](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SerenaJones/gifts).



Title: Nocturnia

Author: Felidae

Rating: R

Pairing(s): Seto/Jou

Beta: Jennie B. (cue music; `She's so wonderful to me) ^^

Spoilers: Some minor ones on the Noah Arc

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Seto looked around and tried to determine where or when they where. Not that it helped any, for all he could see was darkness, darkness and even more darkness. A grunt came from where he assumed Jounouchi lay next to him, though he couldn’t really tell.

“Sheesh, they forget to pay the electric bill or something? Talk about pitch black!”  
the blond complained, and Seto had to smile despite himself. However, the smile faltered, when his lover added,  
“There are not even stars in the sky, let alone a moon.”  
The soft rustle of cloth was heard as Katsuya stood up and, hands extended, padded over to Seto. Once his fingers made contact with his comrade, the shorter teen was quick to attach himself to Seto’s side and plant his head on the other's shoulder. Shivering, he muttered,  
“And it’s freezing too, jeez!”  
Seto reached out with one arm and pulled Katsuya to him, the blond instinctively snuggling deeper into the embrace as the brunet tried to wrap his coat around them both. Sighing wistfully, Katsuya searched for more contact, and Seto blushed as his body reacted to his lover’s close proximity. Naturally, this didn’t go unnoticed by Katsuya. Giving a sly grin, he purred,  
“Mhh, ya like this, ne? You know, I know a good way to keep the both of us warm and cozy.”  
His husked voice was accompanied by a rather lewd brush of his groin against Seto’s thigh, letting the brunet know exactly what he had in mind.  
He couldn’t keep a smirk of his own from ghosting across his features.  
“Down, boy,” he mumbled, but Katsuya just kept on rubbing his erection against Seto’s leg.  
“Who are you to call me boy, boy?”  
he rasped into Seto’s ear. The brunet inhaled sharply as he recognized the cold, steely quality of Jou’s whisper, and he couldn’t help but stiffen. Katsuya drew back, worriedly.  
“Nani?” Seto merely shook his head, and the strange feeling, off before he murmured,  
“As inviting of an offer as it is, I’d rather see the look in your eyes when I take you the first time.”  
There was a stunned silence, and then Katsuya said incredulously in a hushed voice, “Seto…”  
Giving a smirk, the aforementioned opened his mouth-but was promptly cut off.  
“That would have been incredibly romantic, had it been the truth. Now spill; what’s the matter? And no excuses this time.”

Seto sighed, and then rumbled,  
“That was no excuse, but I can imagine at least twenty different places I’d rather become intimate with you than in the middle of Black Hole, Darksville.”  
He could feel Katsuya’s gaze lingering upon him, although he was sure that the blond couldn’t even make out his face. Finally, his lover shrugged and turned away from him, deciding to drop the issue. Seto felt the cold invade the space Katsuya had inhabited mere moments ago, and worriedly, he asked,  
“Where do you think you are going?”  
A snort came from the blond.  
“Well, as you said, it’s cold, it’s dark, and I could think of places I’d rather spend the night than in the middle of Nowhere, Buttcrack. Let’s find some shelter.”  
Hesitantly, Seto followed his lover’s clear voice, carefully setting one foot before the other.

After stumbling a good ten minutes like this through the night, Seto came to a halt and huffed,  
“I still think we should wait until dawn. It is rather difficult, not to mention dangerous, to be traveling like this.”  
Again, Katsuya snorted.  
“Yeah, but imagine if a bear or some other critter were to sneak up on us, we’d never realize it until it had ripped out our throats, literally. Better to find some hiding place.”  
Seto rolled his eyes in annoyance.  
“It’s not that I disagree with you on that point, but walking in the dark with no light whatsoever might prove to be even more hazardous than any roaming beast. You could fall down a slope or a cliff, or walk into a trap, or-“  
“Ow! Fuck! I hit my toe!”  
“Or a wall,” concluded the brunet as he cautiously made his way over to where Katsuya stood. The moment his hand touched Katsuya’s back, he pulled his lover into a comforting hug and buried his nose in the golden tresses, sending a lustful shiver up the blond’s spine.  
“Better?” he asked, and he felt Katsuya nod.  
“Much. Now let’s find a door or something. Hang on to my shirt.”  
Seto did as he'd been told, feeling almost like a little child again as he remembered doing this with his brother. A pang of loneliness made his heart clench, and he wondered what Mokuba might be doing at this very moment in time, if he still remembered his ani, or if he was even still alive. They might have been gone for but a couple of months, but who was to tell how much time had passed in their own world?  
He was so caught up in his thoughts, Seto almost missed the soft exclamation from the other.  
”Come again?”  
Katsuya paused and repeated,  
”Here’s a corner, but it could also be an entrance or something. I’ll go first; you follow when I say it’s ok.”  
A frown settled upon the brunet’s features, but before he could protest, Katsuya had already freed himself and slipped out of reach. He padded around the corner and-  
“Aaahh! A ghost!”  
The reaction of the person he had stumbled into was exactly the same, save for the fact that his voice was a little deeper, and quite familiar. Stumbling backwards and into Seto’s arms, Katsuya stared at the brunet’s dimly illuminated counterpart.

Well, there were a couple of differences.  
Aside from the fact that this world’s Seto seemed to lack the air of authority and animosity his lover radiated, the doppelganger had somewhat slimmer shoulders, larger, softer eyes and - glowing skin. Katsuya’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets when he realized that the Seto look-alike was stark naked. But on closer inspection, he could see that the other brunet was wearing a skin-tight, full body suit that left absolutely nothing to the imagination. It looked as if someone had taken the entire boy and dipped him in liquid neon rubber.  
‘Talk about a living sexdoll,’ thought Katsuya wryly as his new acquaintance composed himself and babbled,  
”By the Silver Child; I am terribly sorry, but I was on patrol and heard someone sneaking around and-what happened to your skin?”  
In unison, one blond and one brown brow was raised, and Katsuya muttered,  
“I could ask you the same. How come you’re glowing like a-a-uhh..”  
“Firefly?” suggested Seto, making his doppelganger take his first good look at him. And another one.  
Then he extended a finger and gently poked Seto’s cheek, much to this stoic brunet's dismay, and he couldn’t help but send a death glare in the direction of his opposite. Examining his finger, the double stated,  
“Interesting. At least you are not spirits of sorts, right? Still, it makes one wonder, only creatures and plants which have been exposed to extreme lighting lose their fluorescent abilities. But I have only heard rumors and hearsay of such things. Where are you from?”  
Katsuya sighed as he rose to his full height and answered,  
“Ja, how should I start? We’ve been, well, cursed, I’d say.”  
It was the other’s turn to cock a brow.  
“A curse? Really? Hnn, intriguing. I'd love to hear more, but first, let me introduce myself.” He extended his right hand and uttered a word which sounded like a mixture between a snort and a click. Seto and Katsuya merely stared in awe.  
“What..was that?” mumbled the young CEO, and the other brunet chuckled.  
“My name, of course. It’s rather unique, I admit, so you might consider speaking after me. S’H’Knick.”  
It took the both of them several tries just to manage the first syllable without choking on their own tongues, but finally S’H’Knick nodded in satisfaction.  
“Close enough. Ok so you are Jou.”  
He pointed at the blond, and then turned to Seto,  
“And you’re Kh’aib’?”  
“Kaiba,” corrected the other brunet, his azure eyes narrowing in displeasure. He couldn’t say why, but he already hated his twin of sorts - and they had only met a few minutes ago.  
The look-alike, seemingly oblivious to Seto’s antipathy, indicated to the two weary travellers to follow him.  
“You must be starving and tired, given how you look. I’ll take you home so that the others can take a look at you and listen to your story, and then we can decide what to do.”  
Katsuya blinked as he watched the light emitting from the youth’s body, casting a soft glow on everything within a three foot radius. It was almost like standing next to a living flashlight. Somewhat uncertain, the blond queried,  
“We? You mean, there are others?” ‘Like you,’ he wanted to add, but he swallowed the words at the last instant.  
S’H’Knick grinned.  
“Of course there are, or did you think I was raised by myself?”  
”Why, is there someone else to blame?”  
mumbled Seto, only to receive a warning elbow in his belly. He really didn’t like his counterpart. Well, that fact in itself was not astounding seeing as his alter egos had typically tried to snatch his Katsuya away from him. But this time, the animosity he felt directed at his look-alike was so immense, he couldn’t help but snarl at the other's back as they followed his lead. A glance at Katsuya, who had fallen in step with Seto, however, almost made the brunet lose his countenance. Was his lover..ogling his twin?

Katsuya noticed Seto’s incredulous look out of the corner of his eye and he blushed before he mumbled,  
“He does have a nice ass.”  
Sapphire orbs darkened as Seto merely growled something unintelligible. Katsuya smirked and, letting his right hand land soundly on the sulking brunet’s rear, he whispered,  
”I still like yours better.”  
Somewhat confused, Seto gaped at Katsuya, who smirked back at him like a Cheshire cat. His eyes, however, held that certain golden glow that always made Seto want to growl low in the back of his throat…

“Here we are. Try not to feel offended when the others start touching and passing you around; my relatives just don’t know how to behave appropriately,”  
explained their guide apologetically. He paused when he noticed the looks passing between the two strangers, and then asked,  
“Say, the two of you wouldn’t happen to be..a couple or something?”  
There was something in his voice, a tone both teens had long since become accustomed to hearing, which set off a warning bell. Wordlessly, they exchanged a look and settled for plan A. As Seto squared his shoulders, Katsuya merely shook his head and sighed,  
“No, it’s just, after spending so much time together and having saved each other’s life several times over, we've grown pretty close. Tends to happen if you've got no one else to rely on.”  
S’H’Knick grunted.  
“I see.”  
He smiled, but the short, dangerous flicker in his pale blue eyes didn’t go unnoticed by either one of the lovers.

It was a town unlike any they had ever seen. Within the massive walls of an apparently ancient ruin, the people living here had built cottages of sorts, though they were quite distinct from the much older ruins. Whereas the old walls had been crafted from squares of red marble, the bricks of the small huts had been formed from luminous mortar that had been pressed into form. Even the tiles covering the roofs were aglow. In the center, there was a huge mould filled with charcoal and ashes. Obviously, this was the town square, for next to the fire pit stood a covered platform.  
Seto and Katsuya followed S’H’Knick through the spacious halls of what had once probably been a pyramid, wondering as to why there were so few people to be seen. Before they had a chance to ask, however, they were ushered into one of the larger huts. With many explanations and apologies, their host prepared two makeshift beds and a small meal before he had them lie down.  
“Rest, the Silver Child will soon come out to play.”  
With those cryptic words, S’H’Knick left the room, and the couple, to themselves. Finally alone, the lovers were quick to settle closer to each other and discuss how to proceed.  
“Well?” asked Katsuya.  
Seto merely glared at the closed door, and then spat,  
“I hate him!”  
Taken aback by the harsh words, the blond tried for a change of subject, but Seto merely shook his head.  
“Go to sleep, I’ll keep guard. I’ll wake you if there’s something wrong.”  
Katsuya pouted, but knowing better than to argue with him when the brunet was like this, he followed Seto’s request.  
Seto watched his lover doze off, and then settled himself on the soft blankets, folded his arms behind his head, and stared at the ceiling, trying to sort out his hostile feelings towards his current alter ego. The feeling of being watched suddenly sent a chill up his back, and turning his head, he found Katsuya watching him. Before he could even open his mouth, the blond laid one finger against his lips, and then tapped it against his right ear. Seto frowned and listened.  
There was a soft hum, like a breeze gently rustling leaves, which quickly, steadily, grew louder. And then everything around them seemingly burst alive with sound and noise and turmoil.  
In an instant, the teens were up and ready to make their getaway, but at that very moment the door opened and in came S’H’Knick, smiling brightly.  
“Rise and shine, for the Silver Child is-oh, you’re awake! Good; then I can take you to see the Keeper. He’s pretty eager to see you, as well as the others. We’ll have breakfast later.” 

Talking on and on about various things, S’H’Knick led them through the house, making sure that they didn’t run into anyone on the way out. Once in the clear, Seto and Katsuya almost had to run to keep up with the slimmer brunet’s sharp walk. In no time at all, they had reached the platform, but they were too mesmerized by all the happenings around them to take much notice of where they were headed.

Where the village had seemed abandoned and had looked like a ghost town on their arrival, it was now almost bursting with people. Children, elders, adults, and all those in between walked the streets, and there was even an animal or two to be seen which looked vaguely familiar to the ones in their home world. And, every living thing they saw was fluorescing very much like the houses did. What intrigued both Seto and Katsuya was the fact that most of the villagers they saw wore normal clothes, most of them pantaloons with a tunic or long-sleeved shirt, along with scarves, ponchos and capes draped loosely around their shoulders. Only a few youngsters sported the same revealing outfit S’H’Knick preferred.  
As they reached the top of the platform, S’H’Knick turned to face his guests and rasped, “Ok, let me give you some advice. Never mind how nice and well-meaning he might appear to be; the Keeper can be pretty mean if he thinks that someone disrespects him. So be as polite as possible, never mind how rude he is at the start. He’s just testing you.” He walked over to where a short, spikey-haired old man could be seen. He was listening intently to a middle-aged one with peppered grey hair, who stood with his back towards them. Katsuya winced.  
“Sheesh, the old guy looks like Muutou-san,” he whispered into Seto’s ear.  
At that moment precisely, the younger man’s head shot around to look at them, and Seto stopped dead in his tracks. Katsuya swallowed a gasp, as he recognized the darting, small brown eyes and broad moustache.  
Gozaburo.  
“Really, S’H’Knick,”  
Seto’s blood turned to ice at the voice of his hated step-father’s double,  
“You should have reported to us the very moment you stumbled across those strangers. How often have I told you that reporting to the council whenever strangers are found in the vicinity has absolute priority? You, as patrol leader, should know better than to lead strangers into our town without an interrogation from the Keeper!”  
He beamed at the Sugoroku look-alike.  
“Isn’t that true, Bak’Ry? I am right, am I not?”  
Grin firmly in place, the Gozaburo-twin gave bow after bow, searching for approval from the Keeper, who had merely inclined his head ever so slightly. Jou grimaced at the shameless display of boot-licking, and Seto blinked, half in confusion, half in relief. Obviously this world’s Gozaburo was nothing but a groveling, slobbering, spineless idiot chasing the Keeper’s attention, and nothing at all like the cruel, heartless, if not brilliant, businessman he knew from his childhood.

Katsuya watched the farce go on for a little longer, and then muttered under his breath, “Good grief, the guy’s a-a-”  
“A complete moron!” concluded Seto. S’H’Knick, who stood almost next to them, hmped.  
“Sadly enough, I have to agree, although G’Zmekh is my uncle.”  
He sighed, not noticing the distress on Seto’s face. The stoic brunet looked as though he was suffering a cardiac event, but the other male proceeded to lead them towards the two elder men.  
“Well, one can’t pick their relatives. Let me introduce you properly, so we can get this over with.”

For the first time in his life, Jounouchi Katsuya was truly glad to be Japanese. It was not as if life on the streets required much formality, but having grown up in a country were a gesture was worth more than a thousand words, and the wave of a hand could determine the success or failure of an entire company, he had learned at an early age to read the countless nuances of a person’s body language. Obviously, Bak’Ry, as the Keeper was named, highly approved of the both of them, although he hadn't yet uttered a single word.  
The old man listened intently as the two travellers gave him a brief explanation as to how they had come to land in this place, and then he gave a sharp nod. Addressing G’Zmekh, the Gozaburo doppelganger, he bellowed,  
“Open the Great Eye, so the Silver Child can watch its descendants,” and then he left them standing there.  
G’Zmekh rose his left arm and shouted one single word which carried over the ruckus and noise of the villagers, and from somewhere high above him, came a reply.

The high, screeching sound made everyone pause and look upwards, along with Seto and Jou. Incredulously, they watched as high, high above them a part of the pyramid’s roof opened to reveal a huge, shimmering sphere which flooded the entire area with its cold, silvery light. Katsuya’s face fell, as did Seto’s.  
“Uhh, say, isn’t that the moon?”  
The brunet nodded.  
“Indeed it is. I thought it was a sunroof, but why would they open it before the sun has risen?”  
Irritated, he stalked over to where his alter ego stood, talking with G’Zmekh. Not giving a thought as to whether or not the others might consider him downright rude, he snapped, “Pardon my interrupting, but why did you wake us in the middle of the night? Or is this some asinine fest we were unknowingly invited to?”  
Both G’Zmekh and S’H’Knick stared at him in confusion, which angered Seto even more. “Don’t play stupid, you drag us out of bed in the middle of the night and-“  
“Night? But it is morning. Can’t you see the Silver Child’s face?”  
Katsuya who had joined them, laid one calming hand on Seto’s shoulder, who was fuming by now.  
“I can see the moon very well, thank you. Actually, I was referring to the sun!”  
“Sun?” echoed the other two men, obviously not comprehending, while Seto clenched his teeth to keep himself from cold-cocking his twin.  
“Yes, the sun. The big, golden globe of liquid fire that rises every morning in the east and settles each evening in the west, which makes the day day and the night night. The sun! Should I spell it out or would you like me to draw it for you?”  
Realization dawned on S’H’Knick’s face.  
“Aah, you mean the Bright Lady! Don’t worry; she’ll return in five days, so you will not have to wait that much longer! Until then, let’s see if we can get you some appropriate clothes so that you won’t get lost when we take you out of town!”  
Humming, the patrol leader descended the platform.  
Katsuya, who stood as still as Seto, rasped in horrified fascination, “Did he just say..five-days?”

~Eons and eons ago, when the earth was young and man had still been innocent, the Bright Lady would rise every single day to grant her people her attention and blessings. But, as the world had aged, mankind had become greedy and had longed for more of the Bright Lady’s presence in order to satisfy the hunger of its starving masses. And then, the wizard Ak’Aneth had created a construction powerful enough to will the Bright Lady closer to the earth and thus extend the duration of her stay. Alas, angered by mankind’s greed and foolhardiness, the Bright Lady chose a pure-hearted child to bring about the wizard’s downfall. When the insane man was thrown off his pedestal and crushed by his own construction, the power which had fed the machine created a blinding light ten times as powerful as the one the Bright Lady provided. Horrified by her people's treason and lack of faith, the Bright Lady cast a spell of her own and pushed the world away from her, only returning once every twelve years to see if mankind had gained any wisdom and learned from their mistakes. But, as every mother does, she was also worried about the well-being of her other children. So, she told her only son, the Silver Child, to keep close and watch over her descendants, and show them each day what their greed and longing for power had cost them. As time passed, both mankind and nature learned to cherish what little light the Bright Lady blessed them with by using the Silver Child’s face as mirror in which her brightness was captured and reflected. And thus, as they gained wisdom and humility, their pride was smothered by understanding, and their greed gave way to regret. The Silver Child blessed them, and all living things, with his own, cold glow so that they would never forget whom they had to thank for their lives. And so, as the legend has it, once all of mankind has found peace and harmony with its neighbours, the Bright Lady will resume her daily visit to her children, and the world be basked once more in her light each and every day until all time has passed.~

Katsuya and Seto, who had followed Bak’Ry deep into the bowels of the pyramid, listened to the Keeper’s strange tale as they tried to decipher the inscriptions S’H’Knick showed them which covered every single speck of the walls and floors. Seto frowned when he realized that most of the words were in Sanskrit, and he exchanged a look with his travel mate when they passed a particular symbol they knew well enough from their own world. The sign for radioactivity.

Letting themselves fall back, Katsuya inched closer to his lover and whispered,  
“Ok, just so’s I get it right: are they trying to tell us some nutcase created a magnet of sorts strong enough to blast earth out of its original orbit, and that that’s the reason the sun only shows up once every twelve years?”  
Seto gave a vague nod of his head.  
“I’m not entirely sure, but that’s seems to be more or less what he said. Yet, what has me concerned is not the gravity-altering device this lunatic may have built, but the fact that these people are unaware that they might be living in the core of an atomic reactor.”  
Jou shrugged. “Well, it figures, ne?” Seto shot him a curious glance.  
“The reason everybody here’s lit like a torch? If they were exposed to radiation…”  
The brunet halted his step.  
“You’re being stupid, aren’t you?” Katsuya gave him a wry grin.  
“Ja, almost had ya going there for a second, ne?”  
“Well then, here we are!”  
Bak’Ry’s gentle, if not commanding, voice cut into their exchange. Puzzled, the cursed teens gazed at the large, two story building before them.

“Here? Where’s here?” asked Katsuya, and the Keeper smiled.  
“The council, of course. Come in; they all are curious as to what you have to tell them.”

The council, as it was, consisted of each and very member of the village, infants and children included. The entire tribe listened in awe as the couple told them about the worlds they had been to, and the things they had seen. They were especially mesmerized by the fact that in most worlds, the sun would rise ever single day, and not merely once over a twelve year span.  
S’H’Knick, in particular, was taken by the concept of gravity, and Seto spent the most of the day-as it were-explaining to him as to how earth’s, the sun’s, and every other planet’s individual rotation had influence on not only the times of day, but also on the weather, topography, and everything else. When he returned a couple of hours later to their current lodgings, Katsuya couldn’t help but grin in approval.  
“Looks like you’re starting to warm up to him, ne?”  
Seto merely shot him a dark look.  
“Not even remotely. I despise him even more now than before.”  
His lover blinked.  
“Whoa, hold it right there; you spent the past three hours talking with him-“  
“I was talking to him so I wouldn’t have to listen to his aggravating whine. I prefer to hear myself speak over his voice.”  
He undressed and settled himself next to Katsuya, snarling,  
“And he dares to call his uncle a moron!”  
Katsuya tilted is head sideways and mused,  
“Ja, perhaps you hate him because the two of you are too much alike?”  
Seto stared at the blond as if he had grown a second head.  
“We have nothing in common aside from our appearance, and even that one is merely superficial. In case you failed to notice, his eyes are much paler than mine. Plus, his ears are almost twice as big.”  
Katsuya made a waving motion.  
“No, I mean it! Think about it; you’re both smart, cunning, got a strong sense of humour, both like technical stuff, and hate that Gimek guy!”  
“His name is G’Zmekh, and I don’t hate him. He is an idiot, yes, and resembles my stepfather, but I merely dislike him because he’s a cowering, gutless, smooth talking baka. S’H’Knick however..” He shook his head.  
“Intelligent he might be, but he’s like a child with a firearm. He knows how to use it, but has no idea about or concern for the damages and consequences which will result when it’s fired at random. He completely lacks any self-control.”

Katsuya chuckled. Considering Seto was a major control freak, it explained some of the animosity he felt towards his counterpart. Deciding for his own health’s sake not to point out that fact, Katsuya smirked,  
“Funny you’d use the kid reference. I like to think of him as a boy in a candy store; everything’s new and fascinating to him, and he can’t get enough of it. He’s-”  
“Reckless. And reckless people tend to hurt others sooner or later, even if they have the best intentions.”  
Katsuya pondered that for a moment, and then argued,  
“Still, the both of you have got a lot in common. I mean aside from the fact that he’s more friendly and outgoing than you, not to mention he smiles most of the time, while you just frown…”  
“I do not merely frown!” exclaimed Seto heatedly.  
“Just because I don’t believe in giggling and cackling like a fool, it does not mean that I don’t know how to laugh!”  
“Please!”  
The blond shot the brunet his most famous half-lidded look.  
“I’ve seen Nou masks with more facial expression than you.”  
There was a mute exchange between them, and then Seto growled,  
“Go to sleep before I pummel you into unconsciousness!”  
Katsuya chuckled as he settled down while his comrade groused some more under his breath until the blond had finally fallen asleep. Only then did Seto allow himself the luxury of relaxing and, giving a downhearted sigh, he considered this new world they had dropped onto.  
And how much he resented it.

They had landed on worlds where they had literally flickered in and out of existence, their bodies vaporized in the immense heat before their screams had had a chance to echo in their own ears. They had been pinned down by gravity eighty times stronger than their earth’s, their own weight slowly, painfully crushing them. It had taken them hours, if not days, to die. He recalled ice worlds so cold that they had frozen to death by the time they had managed to turn their heads to look at one another, and worlds which had consisted almost entirely of water, the blue depths inhabited by creatures too deformed for the human eye to behold. Yet, despite their variety, all of the worlds had had one thing in common: there had always been a sun above them to shine down upon them. Sometimes dimmed or enshrouded by clouds, and sometimes there had not been more than a few sunrays to penetrate the thick fog lingering about, but at least there had been enough for them to make out their surroundings. Here, it seemed that there was nothing but darkness and these strange, fluorescing beings.

Seto fought against the tightness in his chest; it was the darkness which had triggered his claustrophobia; his stepfather had locked him into a broom closet whenever he had felt the need to punish his step-son. Or, if he had been really mad, into a darkened, tiny cell crafted solely for the purpose of breaking the young boy’s will and spirit. It was not for nothing that the brunet favoured the colours white and blue, and that all of the rooms in his mansion and office were large and well-lit.

Never mind that the ceiling above him was littered with star-shaped, phosphorescing tiles, Seto couldn’t help but feel trapped. Being in close confines was bad enough for him, but the thought that he would have to spend another five days in this world without light or sun was almost more than he could bear. Panic rose in his chest, sweat broke out on his brow as his breath quickened, and instinctively, his hand reached out and searched for Katsuya’s, enclosing it in a firm grip once he had found it. A gentle, reassuring squeeze was the sleeping blond’s reply, and the brunet felt a profound serenity sweep away the fear and anchor his soul. Mere moments later Seto fell into a deep, dreamless slumber.  
  
+++++

“Good morning! Rise and shine!” bellowed S’H’Knick as he swung the door to their chamber wide open.  
“Fuck off!”  
slurred Katsuya and Seto gave an equally rude groan. S’H’Knick sweatdropped.  
“My goodness, the two of you really aren’t morning people, huh?”  
Katsuya shot him a dark look.  
"I don’t see the point in getting up early when there’s no sun. I mean, what’s the point in getting up at all if it’s dark?”

The other brunet grinned like a madman.  
“What are you talking about? The Silver Child’s already high up in the sky, and we’re taking you to the tailor before the ride! I’ll show the outside and our farms. But for that, we need you to get some other clothes; since your skin doesn’t glow, it would take ages to find you should you get lost. Now get up already; breakfast’s waiting!”  
With that, S’H’Knick was out the door in a whirl, leaving two tired, perplexed teenagers to stare after him.  
Katsuya scratched his head, and then mumbled,  
“I think I hate that guy.”  
Seto merely yawned in agreement.

For Seto, the tailor’s workshop turned out to be his favourite place in this world.  
Not only was it cozily warm and spacious, but because of all the fluorescent cloth lying around and the large cauldrons filled with neon liquid, the entire area was brightly illuminated. Sadly enough, their stay was not for long, because S’H’Knick waved them over to a large tub filled with what seemed to be the molten version of his suit.  
“Well then, this is it. Strip down and get in.”  
Katsyua blinked. Surely he hadn't heard right.  
“Come again?”  
The patrol leader cocked his chin towards the container.  
“I said, get in there. Unless you’d rather wear the more rustic style like our elders.”  
He waved a hand at the various items of clothing hanging neatly on racks to dry.  
”I’d say you hop in and get yourself one of these fully-insulated body suits.”  
Seto and Katsuya frowned, considering their options, and then the brunet asked,  
“How hot is it?”  
His look-alike shrugged.  
“Not too; if it’s more than thirty degrees, the fibres won’t bond correctly. Once the suit has taken on its final form and cooled out completely though, you can basically walk through a campfire without even getting scorched.  
Essentially, it’s like taking a hot bath.”  
That settled it for them, and mere minutes later, the travellers found themselves inside the warm, rubber-like fluid that smoothed itself to their skin and chased the cold from their bodies.  
“Y’ know, I can’t remember the last time we got to enjoy a hot bath,” sighed Katsuya contentedly. Seto reflected a second.  
“The world before the last, remember? We ran into that chocolate-addicted version of yours? The one with the talking bees?”  
Katsuya grimaced.  
“Oh, yeah, gross. I’m never going near lemonade again in my life”,  
he pledged. Seto chuckled.  
“Still, it was better than the previous one to this. I first thought that we had landed in Disneyland, what with all the dinosaurs and reptiles. It’s not as if I ever wanted to explore the digestive tract of a giant snake on a first-hand basis.”  
“Hey, it was your fault, not mine!” declared the blond.  
“You insisted on getting out of the cave to search for some food before the shift. And what happened? We got swallowed alive by an anaconda the size of a fucking plane, not even one hour before we switched worlds. How ironic is that?”  
The brunet tutted.  
“If I recall correctly-and I always do-you where the one whining about starving-“  
“I do not whine!”  
“-whining about-“  
“Hey, hey, cool off guys; come on, time’s up. Get out of there now, will ya?”  
interrupted S’H’Knick as he held out one hand to help Seto out of the tub. Naturally, the brunet ignored it and exited the huge kettle with fluid elegance. Behind him, he heard the soft gurgling as Katsuya exited the fluid as well.  
Quaking slightly, he said,  
“I feel naked.”  
“I wish.”  
The words were out of Seto’s mouth before he could stop them, and he bit the inside of his mouth. Considering how S’H’Knick had reacted to the possibility of them being a couple, such slip-ups could cost them a lot, if not their lives. Shaking his left hand and testing the rapidly cooling fabric between his fingers, Seto continued,  
“This feels..strange, not to mention disgusting. I’d rather be rid of it now.”  
S’H’Knick snickered, a sound which made Seto want to punch his alter ego square in the face.  
“It’s just until it has become solid, but I agree, it does feel a little weird. Let’s get you into the cooling chamber.”  
He ushered the two companions into a separate area, which was remarkably colder than the rest of the workshop, and promised to come get them within the hour.

Finally graced with some privacy, Katsuya turned to look at Seto..His jaw fell straight to the floor. The thin layer of neon accented every single mould, plane and dip on the brunet’s body, including his private parts, and Katsuya couldn’t help the dirty grin spreading across his face.  
“Oh yeah, definitely much better built!”  
he purred as he closed the distance between them, his amber eyes transfixed on Seto’s groin.  
The brunet was obviously just as pleased by the blond’s appearance, if the slightly hitched breath was any indication. Carefully, so as not to leave any traitorous marks on the suits’ surfaces, the couple kissed, their tongues entwining in a heated dance as their suits accommodated their rapidly swelling members. And just like that, Seto broke the contact and pushed Katsuya away from him.  
“Wha-what gives?”  
sputtered the surprised teen in confusion, but his lover merely shook his head.  
“Unless you’re willing to find out exactly how deep homophobia in this culture runs, I’d advise you to stay down until we shift. Literally.”  
He cast his glance downwards, and Katsuya blushed.  
“Hey, what do you expect, when you jump me? It’s not like I’m made of stone or something, ne?”  
The brunet scowled.  
“I did not jump you, I merely..I I-ok, I did jump you,” he conceded when Katsuya merely pouted and placed his hands on his hips.  
”But we really should be more careful. At least when wearing these suits which make us so easily visible.”  
The blond pouted some more and sniffled, but remained quiet. Seto studied his face for a moment, but when he got no reaction whatsoever, he asked hesitantly,  
”Katsuya? Do you or don’t you agree with me?”  
Shifting his weight from one foot to the other, Katsuya scratched his head and answered, “Yeah it’s just..you know, I don’t think the sight of a glowing dick would excite me. Not really.”  
Baffled, Seto stared at his friend, and then threw is head back and laughed. Soon he was joined by Katsuya. Precisely at that moment, the door swung open and in came S’H’Knick.

“Ok guys, I got each of us a ri-did I miss something?”  
A set of blue and brown eyes settled on him, and then the laughter erupted even louder than before.  
And S’H’Knick couldn’t shake the feeling that he was partly responsible for his guests’ hilarity.  
  
+++++

The ride was, although emotionally refreshing, not really that spectacular. Aside from the oversized moon, which hung low in the darkened sky above them, the outside was more or less like Seto had expected it to be. The vegetation was rather monotonous, the trees grew short and scrawny, and most of the animals they saw had oversized eyes and ears-or no eyes at all-to compensate for the lack of light. Not that it was dark, on the contrary, the almost full moon cast a bright, silvery glow over the landscape. As far as their eyes could see, everything was basked in the cold light.

Strangely enough, there was not a single star to be seen- not even after the moon had set behind the horizon and everything was shrouded in black again. That’s when Seto noticed something peculiar: the fields which surrounded the farms weren’t alight, and neither were the trees nor the other plants. It was as if all of the vegetation had suddenly lost its fluorescence. As they rode home, Seto asked S’H’Knick about this eerie freak of nature, and the other brunet nodded.  
“Each time, shortly before the Bright Lady returns, all the plants lose their glowing ability so that they can take up as much of the Bright Lady’s light as possible. That way, each generation of herbs grows brighter than the previous one.”  
The excitement in his voice was audible.  
“That’s how we grow the needed linen for our cloth; by exposing the seedlings to as much light as possible, we make sure that every harvest shines brighter than the one before.”  
A triumphant smile was directed towards the two cursed teens.  
“But none of them are as good as the hybrids I created for my suits.”  
Seto, who rode next to him, didn’t like the tone in S’H’Knick’s voice. Not at all.  
  
+++++

A loud bang the next morning shot Katsuya almost six feet out bed. Trying to keep his pounding heart from beating its way straight out of his chest, he turned to look at Seto- whose bed was empty.  
“Oh bloody-!”  
cursed the blond as he stumbled through the house in search of his elusive lover- or at least his twin. Instead, he ran into countless family members who insisted on touching and petting and pinching him until he managed to flee. Not that being outside was much better; the town had turned into a bee’s hive of activity, swarming with people busy preparing the festivities for the sun’s return. Thusly, every villager who passed him tried to snatch a strand of his hair or pinch his cheek. In short, the blond was forced to sneak through the small town in order to avoid any more unwanted attention.  
Naturally, in the dim light and with no clue really as to where he was going, Katsuya soon had to face the truth: He was lost.  
‘Nice one, Katsuya, getting lost in a town inside a pyramid,’ he thought to himself-  
and then he knew where Seto had gone.

Seto was at a loss.  
He had come down into the lower parts of the monolith to find some more clues about how Ak’Aneth had managed to swing earth out of its supposed orbit, but what little Sanskrit he remembered didn’t translate well to this world’s version. Maybe it was because of the poor lighting the torch he carried provided. So far he had discovered that-  
“Do that again and I’ll put you on a leash!”  
The brunet flinched.  
He didn’t even need to look at his lover to know that his puppy was not a happy camper. Instead of an apology, Seto decided to share what he had found out and waved the blond closer.  
“You were fast asleep when I left, so I decided not to wake you since it was still dark.” He cracked a smirk at the pun,  
”And I don’t trust S’H’Knick with this.”  
He pointed at a simplified drawing of the solar system.  
“Ok, this is our solar system as we know it, and how it’s supposed to be. Now look at this.” He pointed to a second image, and Katsuya whistled lowly.  
The large sphere in the center was encircled by eight almost perfectly rounded rings, each one adorned with a single, smaller globe. The third globe from the inside, however, was an ellipse- a large, strangely deformed oval which crossed Mars’ orbit in four different places.

“Damn, they got lucky that the whole thing didn’t spiral right into outer space. Or hit Mars. But what is it you discovered? I mean, this is pretty impressive-not to mention scary- but I don’t know how this would help anybody aside of causing a panic.”  
Seto grabbed him by the sleeve and moved further down the wall. Here, there were no more images to be found, but the marble was covered with strange symbols Katsuya thought he had seen before.  
“According to what is written here, and from what I managed to understand, Ak’Aneth created a magnet in order to change earth’s gravity to move it both closer to the sun and alter its angle at the same time. If he had succeeded, the south pole would have pointed almost directly towards the sun while the better part of the northern hemisphere would have been cast into darkness. What this lunatic intended to do was expose Antarctica to the sun in order to create a seventh continent which could be inhabited by humans.”  
“The ice would have melted and flooded the earth, drowning everything in the coastal areas,” whispered Katsuya, who had gone deathly pale.  
Seto nodded.  
“Yes, fortunately-or unfortunately-he was stopped in time, before he could put his plan into action. Sadly enough, the guy who destroyed the magnet had no clue as to what he was doing and caused a catastrophe that was almost equally as devastating. But if I’m not wrong, the effect can be reversed.”  
Katsuya narrowed his eyes.  
“Reversed? How?”  
Seto bit his lip, and then tapped against one of the symbols to his upper right.  
“If only I understood what this means-I translated it, but it does not make any sense, and I have a feeling that-“  
“No. Fucking. Way.”

Seto gazed at the blond in surprise. Why did Katsuya sound so harsh all of a sudden?  
His arms crossed before his chest, Katsuya glared at his lover.  
“I know what you want to do, and although I know that you mean well, I won’t let you do it. It’s too risky.”  
He turned to leave, but paused to give the brunet another hard look.  
“One single miscalculation could send this world plummeting straight into the sun, and while the both of us would just come back into the next world, I can’t allow you to put the lives of every single living being at risk. We’re not only talking about mankind’s extinction, but of the very destruction of this world. Are you sure that you want to be the one to bring Judgement Day to these poor folks?”  
Azure eyes widened, and then closed in shame.  
It was not that Seto had not considered that possibility, but he had been so caught up in solving the problem, so close to unravelling the riddle, he had completely forgotten what was at stake.  
“Besides,” added Katsuya as an afterthought,  
“I got burned to a flaky crisp twice; I don’t need a rerun on that. I’m not a masochist.”  
He caught the pained flicker in Seto’s eyes, and almost took a flying leap at the brunet. Taking firm hold of the front of Seto’s suit he snapped,  
“I know what you are thinking about. Forget it.”  
“Wha-?”  
Katsuya didn’t give him a chance to speak.  
“You’re thinking about putting me out of my misery when things get too bad for me to handle, isn’t that so? Well let me get one thing straight, Kaiba Seto: as long as I can fight, as long as I've still got one single breath left in my lungs, I won’t give up the fight and I won’t give up hope, never mind how bad the odds!”  
Gently detaching Katsuya’s hands from his suit, Seto placed a kiss in each palm. So this was why the shorter teen had occasionally been so..hostile towards him. Searching Katsuya’s face, Seto tried to reason,  
“Do you think it was easy for me to do so? Do you have the slightest inkling how much it hurt me to have to take your life to save you from a fate worse than death? I know that you've got a very high level of optimism, but Katsuya, please, believe me, any hope at those times would have been self-delusional. I would rather see you die than have to watch your spirit fade away when you come to realize that all the hope you had was but a foolish dream-“  
“If hope were rational, or even logical, no one would ever start a revolution,” intervened the blond.  
“That’s what keeps fuelling every opposition; it’s not hatred or loyalty or even love, but hope. Have you ever considered that together we might have found a way out of whatever trouble was headed for the both of us?”  
Seto scowled.  
“Katsuya, I merely decided to proceed that way when I saw no way out for us, and any chance of being freed or rescued were beyond hope.”

The blond was livid.  
Hitting Seto square in the chest, making him double over in pain, he shouted,  
“And who went and made you God? Do you have the slightest inkling of what you have done? How dare you decide about whether I am to live or die! It’s my life, and my decision to make, and never mind the reasons; what you did was just plain wrong!”

The brunet’s face fell. Blue eyes dimmed as he murmured:  
“I only wanted to save you from being hurt…”  
Katsuya shook his head, as his anger ebbed off.  
“I know that, but that’s not helping me any. How am I supposed to overcome my fears when you keep protecting me from anything bad that might or might not happen to me?”  
He sighed deeply, then rasped,  
”I admit, the slave world was..pretty bad for me. But what was even worse was having to return to Battle City and see you looking at me that way again, like you used to..so full of contempt…and disgust. And to know that in that lifetime, there was no chance for the both of us, no matter what, that was horrible.” 

Amber eyes searched Seto’s face.  
“Did you know I’ve overcome my fear of heights?” A dark brow was tilted in puzzlement, and Katsuya chuckled.  
”Guess being a dragon did the trick. Every time I stand on a rooftop or a skyscraper now it reminds me of the feeling of having the wind under my wings…how we danced and played among the clouds…the way you wrapped yourself around me..made love to me…”

For a moment, the blond’s eyes grew distant and almost sad, before they returned to Seto. “It’s one thing if I’m on death’s door and you’re trying to spare me the final agonies, Seto. But, killing me in order to save me from possible mental or emotional pain...you’re taking away time that belongs to us and the memories we'll make and share, be they good or bad. You’re taking me away from us. It means that you don’t think me strong enough to deal with whatever trouble lies ahead. It’s patronizing, disrespectful and downright hurtful to know that you consider me to be that weak. And it doesn’t help me any. Instead of the pain we would have shared, I’m going nuts wondering how much you had to suffer while I was visiting the dead.”  
He closed the distance between them, letting one calloused hand gently caress Seto’s cheek, who leaned into the touch, savouring every aspect of the blond’s work-roughened hand.  
“We’re stuck on this crazy space course together. There are, and will be, more than enough things to separate us, so please Seto,”  
he tilted his head upwards, full lips almost brushing the brunet’s own partially opened ones,  
“Don’t shorten what little time we can spend together. Those few moments we have to ourselves before fate, death, or whatever else separates again..they’re worth every single minute of pain I've had to, and will endure.”

He was pulled into a bear hug as Seto crushed his lips upon his own, and then he rasped, “I’m sorry. I never.. I didn’t think..Although I should have known better..know better..”  
“Shh, it’s ok, it’s ok,” hushed Katsuya, his lips gently brushing the brunet’s.  
“How’s that saying go? Love means never having to say ’I’m sorry’, ne?”  
Taking the brunet by the hand, the blond cocked his head towards the staircase.  
“Come on; let’s get going before your alter ego gets his undies in a bunch.”  
He scowled, and then wrinkled his nose in disgust.  
“Although I can’t remember him wearing any.”  
Both teens chuckled, and then Seto gazed around once more.  
“Still, I think I could be of help. If only I could figure out that last symbol-“  
Katsuya shook his head none too gently.  
"I don’t care, ok? I know you mean well, but that’s the wrong way of showing it. Let’s get out of here before they come looking for us.”

As the couple made their way back to the surface, a shadowed figure stepped out from their hiding place.  
  
+++++

Katsuya sighed, as he watched Seto sit in one of the many corners of the workshop, using a makeshift pen and the floor beneath to sketch and scribble down equations, symbols, numbers and letters which made little sense to the blond. He squatted down next to the brunet and tried to figure out some of the complex formulae, but soon gave up. Instead, he snapped his fingers before Seto’s face to gain his attention. Somewhat irately, the brunet looked up.  
“Remember, you promised not to play hero, ne?”  
said Katsuya in a warning tone. Seto shook his head.  
“No, I’m merely calculating the correct angle and the precise time at which it would be possible to-“  
“I’m not listening!”  
replied Katsuya in a sing-song voice as he pressed his hands against his ears.  
Seto glared at him before he rose gracefully and tickled his lover. The shorter teen immediately released his ears and tried to get away, but the brunet wouldn’t have any of it. Instead, he pulled Katsuya close to him and, catching both wrists in his hands, pinned the poor blond against the wall.  
“Now that I have your undivided attention, “  
he purred, causing Katsuya to stifle a moan,  
”Let me reassure you that I have no intentions whatsoever to set the construction into motion. I am merely leaving an impulse, an idea, behind of how the problem might be solved. Should someday someone be smart enough to solve the equation I wrote down, I’m certain that this person will be also bright enough to understand the full extent of their responsibility, and the consequences should they err.”  
He stepped back and released his friend, an unsatisfied expression on his face. Returning to his calculations, he muttered,  
“Besides, I still have no clue as to what this particular symbol stands for. I suppose it means nuclear, but it does not fit into the main context. And, until I can place this symbol correctly, the entire calculation proves to be useless.”  
Kastuya shook his head and gave another sigh. Then a smug grin tilted the corners of his mouth. In a bored tone he announced,  
“Ja, then I guess I’ll just have to take S’H’Knick up on that offer and go on a ride. See you later.”  
Seto’s head shot up.  
“You’re going outside?”  
Katsuya nodded.  
“Sure. Wanna come?”  
The brunet was already heading for the main entrance.

+++++

Another morning dawned, their fifth in this world, and Seto was growing more and more unsettled. Try as he might, he simply could not get the meaning of that last symbol, no matter how often he turned it over in his head.  
Plus, there was something else which unnerved him even more; obviously, S’H’Knick was trying to make friends with Katsuya, and that was not something he was ready to let happen. It occurred to him that everybody in the village spoiled his alter ego rotten for no particular reason. S’H’Knick could move anywhere he wanted without having to ask for permission, he made decisions which concerned the entire community without taking requests with Bak’Ry, and he basically did whatever he pleased.  
Not even his uncle could keep a rein on the other brunet; on the contrary, more than once, Seto witnessed how his twin told off the Gozaburo-double. Plus, it seemed as though S’H’Knick had no real home- although he spent most of his time in the same house where Seto and Katsuya were staying, he often just went into the hut next to him, uninvited, whenever he felt like taking a nap or having a meal.

And nobody seemed bothered by this.

That same evening, as the couple watched S’H’Knick get ready to go out on patrol, Katsuya asked him,  
“Aren’t your parents worried when you go out there all by yourself?”  
For a moment, there was a sad, distant look in the brunet’s eyes and he answered,  
“My parents died when I was eleven. They were on their way to the next town to trade some goods when an avalanche came down the hillside and swept away everything in its wake. We..never found their bodies.”  
Pale blue eyes filled with tears as S’H’Knick took a deep breath.  
“I-told them not to take my sister along for the trip, but she so wanted to see the old market.”  
He shrugged as he forced away the tears and added,  
“My uncle took me in, but basically, I’ve grown up all around the village. I’ve never been home since, though.”  
With that, he left, leaving Seto and Katsuya to ponder what they had heard.

Kaiba Seto was not happy.

Not only had he spent the better part of the night twisting and turning in his bed and thinking about the stupid symbol, but now he was being forced to sit on the outside wall of the pyramid and stare into the dark, night sky, waiting for the sun to finally grace this godforsaken planet with its presence.  
That in itself should have been a reason for Seto to cheer, but the problem was that the entire village was swarming about, searching for the best place from which to watch the spectacle. Constantly, he was prodded and pushed, and twice even, someone had stepped on his hand. It had taken all he had not to throw a tantrum and toss the poor imbecile off the cold steps.

“Jeez, you’d think they’re doing it on purpose!”  
hissed Katsuya as yet another knee rammed into his back. His mood was not much better than Seto’s because the brunet’s constant mumbling and fidgeting had kept him awake all night, as well. Suddenly, everybody fell silent, and the two lovers looked up and gazed to the east.  
The whole thing went incredibly fast; one moment, there was but a thin, purple line on the horizon, and the next minute, the sun had practically leapt into the sky, blinding the spectators and flooding the world with its light. Ahhs and ohhs echoed around them, applause and standing ovations were given, and even Seto breathed a sigh of relief.  
He had never thought that something as common as a sunrise would mean this much to him.  
“And as Venus rose from the sea, all of man bowed in awe of her beauty,”  
tweeted Katsuya, which caused Seto to glance sideways at him. The blond chuckled.  
“I picked this up from a movie once,” he explained, and Seto smirked.  
“I never would have guessed.”  
Around them, the people began to undress and lay down on the marble blocks in order to soak up as much sunlight as possible before it burned too hot. It was a ritual, as S’H’Knick had explained to them, but both of them still felt uncomfortable around so many naked people.  
“Speaking of movies, I feel like Alice in Wonderland- though I don’t see any mirrors or rabbit holes around.”  
Sapphire eyes widened and Seto whirled around and stared at his companion as something clicked inside his brain.  
“What..did you just say?”  
Katsuya flinched and stuttered,  
“Alice- y’ know, the mirror-through the hour glass, or something it’s ca-“  
“’The Looking Glass’! Of course! How could I have been so stupid?”  
With that, Seto raced down the wall and back inside the pyramid, leaving a stunned Katsyua to wonder what had just happened.

“Damn, would you mind slowing down already?”  
yelled the blond, who was in hot pursuit of his lover. It didn’t take them long to reach the place where Seto had shown him the inscriptions that had been occupying his mind for the past four days. Panting, they came to a stop before the symbol which had proven to be such a challenge for Seto. Tapping thoughtfully against the age-old stone, he mumbled,  
“A glass lens. That’s what this means. The sign that we thought meant radioactivity actually stands for the sun. And, if you collect light in a giant glass lens, the result is-“  
"A laser!” exclaimed Katsuya. “That’s the blinding light the legend was talking about, ne?”  
Seto nodded, and then frowned.  
“Still, there is something that boggles my mind: Where is it? I mean, a lens of this size can’t possibly vanish into nothingness, and the inscriptions don’t report anything about its destruction, so where could it be?”  
Katsuya huffed.  
“I dunno; I mean, how big is that thing anyway? I mean, is it bigger than a satellite dish or..”  
”According to the inscriptions and my calculations, the lens would have a diameter of, let’s say, approximately thirty feet.”  
“Nani? Thirty-where would you stow that thing away? I mean, if you got a glass bubble the size of a truck, where would you hide it so that people wouldn't walk constantly into it, or keep something heavy from landing on it? Plus, you would also have to make sure it’s in a place where the sunlight is strong enough to be focused, or else you’ll have nothing but a huge spotlight.”  
Katsuya paused in his rant when he got no reply from the brunet. Gazing at the other one’s face, he recognized the triumphant look in the azure eyes.  
A soft, if not arrogant smile was directed towards the blond as he spoke.  
“Have you ever heard the saying that the best hiding place is in plain sight? Well, what better place to hide a spotlight than in the center of the light?”  
He watched as various expressions flitted across Katsuya’s face, amber eyes dark from concentration.  
“The center of the light,” he mumbled.  
“Well, the only light- aside from the one the folks emit- is the one coming in through the..sunroof!” Katsuya gaped at Seto who merely nodded.

+++++

They were too late.

They knew it the moment they entered the main hall and looked over to where the town square-namely, the unlit firepit- lay broken underneath what had been a huge pile of wood just that morning. What stood in its place now was something resembling a crane, and at its base there stood an all too familiar, cold twinkle.

“I really need to thank you, Seto. Without your help, I would have never been able to realize my plan this fast. And here I was, already worrying that I would have to spend another twelve years trying to figure out the correct angle and everything. Fortunately for me, you were too busy calculating than paying attention to what I was doing.”  
S’H’Knick stood there, on top of the platform next to the crane, and grinning like the proverbial cat that had just eaten the canary.  
Seto grit his teeth; if there was one thing he hated more than being outsmarted, it was being played for a fool in public. Eyes narrowed, he strode forward until he stood at the foot of the construction and glared at his counterpart.  
“Get down from there this very minute, you idiot, before you cause a catastrophe of a magnitude you can’t even begin to imagine,” he growled.  
Katsuya added,  
“He’s right. It’s far too dangerous to try something like this without being absolutely sure it’s going to work. Plus, this machine is so old that it could just fall into pieces-“  
“Nonsense!” spat S’H’Knick.  
“I have been studying this device since I first stumbled across it when I was eight. I have been maintaining and repairing it with Bak’Ry’s blessing because the old fool thought that the lens was lost, and it would be useless. And here the power source was right beneath his feet all this time.”

He rose to his full height and gazed at the top of the pyramid. Only now did Katsuya and Seto notice that the sunroof was wide open, and that a couple of sunrays had found their way inside.  
“Once the Bright Lady has reached the highest point, I will be able to correct my ancestor’s mistake and bring the light back to my people. And then we will never have to live in darkness again.”  
His expression grew soft and wistful, almost dreamy.  
“And people will no longer refer to me as the poor, little orphan, but as their saviour.”  
“Not if I can help it!”  
shouted Seto as he climbed the last few steps of the ladder leading to the platform and rushed his alter ego. Unfortunately, S’H’Knick was not quite as frail as he looked, and was twice as swift. With an elegant move, he sidestepped the surprised Seto, who was not used to an opponent capable of foreseeing his moves. Only barely did the brunet manage to avoid simply falling off the platform, and instead, he swerved to stand face to face with S’H’Knick. His instincts saved him from the fist that had been aimed for his face, and in short, the two brunets fell into a heated fight of skills versus determination.

Katsuya watched the fight from where he had climbed through the maze of wood and metal that was the crane. If only Seto could divert S’H’Knick’s attention long enough for him to destroy the center of the construct, then the whole thing would collapse in on itself and shatter the lens underneath, rendering it useless. Not that Katsuya really knew how he was supposed to do that, so he decided on loosening a bolt here and a screw there; he pulled out nails, and basically tried to cause as much structural damage on his way to the top as possible.  
Alas, as always with such things, there comes a point when too much is simply too much. Katsuya had just removed a nut when he heard a strained creak from above him, and suddenly, the entire crane began to quiver.  
‘This can’t be good,’ thought the blond as he frantically searched for the fastest way off the crane-  
as the left stand suddenly collapsed, causing the entire construction to tilt sideways towards the platform.

“Seto, look out!”  
yelled Katsuya as he jumped off the crane, counting on his luck to give him a remotely soft landing. Seto had heard his lover’s voice, and saw the pillars coming towards him, and he tried to escape, but for S’H’Knick, who stood with his back to the crane, the warning came too late.  
With a deafening rumble, the crane crashed into the platform, and as the combined weight of both constructions was directed onto the lens, the glass bulb shattered, becoming useless.

High above, the sun peeked through the opened roof, and the rays were reflected by the myriad shards of glass that were scattered across the town square. A groan came from somewhere amidst the mound of splintered wood. Gritting his teeth and favouring his broken left arm, Katsuya followed the sound until he saw a flash of chestnut and ivory against the darker wood. He hobbled over to where Seto lay amidst the debris and used his good arm to free his lover; not entirely sure if this was Seto or S’H’Knick.  
All doubts, however, were washed away when the brunet opened his eyes and sought out Katsuya’s face.  
“Seto,” was all the blond could manage before the tears began to stream down his face when he saw the condition the other teen was. His back and legs were terribly twisted, and Katsuya didn’t need a second look to tell that Seto’s spine was shattered. With some difficulty, Katsuya cradled the brunet’s head in his lap and wiped away the bangs from the other's sweaty forehead.  
“Where’s.. S’H’Knick?” asked Seto, and Katsuya shook his head.  
“I see…”  
Azure eyes travelled from the blond’s face to the sunroof above, the light casting a halo around Katsuya’s face.  
“You were right..I guess. We..did have a lot..in common,”  
rasped Seto, and Katsuya frowned.  
“That’s not true and you know it. You were right about him in the first place; he was brash and thoughtless. A rational person wouldn’t have tried to start the laser.”  
A cough, accompanied by some droplets of blood, escaped Seto’s mouth when he murmured,  
“All this time..I wondered…without my step-father..how I would have..turned out.”  
Katsuya felt his heart clench as Seto gave a bitter smile.  
“I never thought..I would-ever feel..grateful towards him. Without him..I would have..probably become like… S’H’Knick.”  
“Like hell you would have! All your stepfather did was hurt and punish you! How was that supposed to-“  
"He..saw..how much..power..I had and..decided to..teach me..control. Not over others..or anything, but..over myself. He taught me..self-control. I..like to..think he..meant well, never..mind how wrong…his methods were. Same, I..assume, as were S’H’Knick’s..and mine.”  
“Stop it! Stop thinking that way this very minute, ya hear me? You’re nothing like either of them, and you would have turned out just fine, just like you were supposed to be! You would-you did turn out fine, you-you’re perfect! You’re perfect..for me,”  
sobbed Katsuya as yet another tear made its way down his cheek and fell onto Seto’s face.  
The brunet smiled, and then grimaced.  
“Are you..hurting?”  
asked Katsuya shyly as he noticed the painful expression.  
“Like hell,”  
choked Seto and he drew a shaky breath. His eyes locked once more with Katsuya’s golden ones when he rasped,  
“Would you..do me the..favour?”  
The blond sniffled.  
“Sure. One for the road?”  
Amusement mixed with sadness when Seto ever so lightly tilted a brow.  
“You have to ask?”  
Katsuya smiled despite the tears that were flowing freely now as he caressed Seto’s face and forehead, and then let his fingers glide through the silky tresses before finally resting his hand on the other one’s neck.  
“I’ll be seeing you in the next world, Seto,”  
he hushed and sealed the brunet’s lips with his own.

The crack of Seto’s neck snapping echoed the breaking of Katsuya’s heart.

+++++

He had insisted of being brought to the very spot where they had first witnessed the sun rise on this world. Although the day had passed and it was way past nightfall, the sun had not set completely and would remain in the sky for another twenty-four hours.  
He didn’t care.  
Katsuya was blind to the beauty of the rose-tinted landscape before him, the happenings around him, and the pain within him. All that mattered at that moment was Seto’s body resting in his arms and the passing of time. When the sun finally resumed its ascent, Katsuya lowered his eyes to Seto’s serene face and placed a chaste kiss on his lips before touching the brunet’s forehead with his own.  
“Never again, Seto. Never again,”  
he whispered as he felt the moment draw closer and he closed his eyes.

When he opened them again and looked around Katsuya knew that they had shifted once more, and that they were not yet home.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

**Author's Note:**

> So, please give a round of applause for SerenaJones and SnowIce for helping me retrieve two of my fondest chapters/ficlets.  
> And, last but far from least, also one for my amazing beta Jennie B. If you haven't read any of her stories yet, you have no idea what you're missing out on.  
> I decided to leave the formatting the way it was originally posted. If you are or know the whereabouts of any authors/betas who worked on this, please contact me. This is one story that would be just too sad to not be posted here; but without the consent of every last one of you, it cannot be done.
> 
> Arigatou


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